Supernatural
by acrosseverystar
Summary: Maka held her breath, knowing the approach of the beast was coming. She could hear it's claws raking across the snow as it traveled in the shadows. Her blood pounded in her ears and she thought to herself, "Just a little closer."
1. Chapter 1 - Wendigo

Maka Albarn held her breath, eyeing the trees around her warily.

"It's close," she muttered.

She could hear the soft growls emanating from the surrounding foliage, the kind of snarls that did not come from any normal human or beast. The cold air made her breath visible and she placed a hand on the iron stake strapped to her waist. The leather soles of her boots crunched against the snow as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other.

"I can hear it too."

The blonde girl turned to her dark haired counterpart who had a hand on each flare gun, his eyes shifting in apprehension.

Another rustle and a growl and Maka was glad for the Anasazi symbol she wore around her neck for protection.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are," she said softly as she inched towards the noise cautiously.

The dark haired boy shivered a bit. "Don't taunt it, Maka, you're just going to piss it off."

She sent him a hard stare. "Kid, do you want this thing to come out so we can kill it, or would you prefer we go to it's lair first?"

Kid Death sent her a withering stare back. "I just don't want you taunting it. This thing could kill you, it's not messing around. Wendigos are dangerous."

"I know," she said, turning her attention back towards the growls.

Suddenly, a large, pale form rushed out from between the trees and into the clearing, swinging wildly at Maka, which she barely dodged, before crossing back to the clearing. The wendigo moved so quickly that Maka was barely able to perceive it before it disappeared.

There was a flash of movement and Maka pivoted, trying to find the creature, but it was too fast. She saw only a blur before she was knocked to the ground, sharp claws raking across her chest and shoulder.

"Maka!" Kid shouted next to her, trying to aim at the beast.

"I'm okay," she shouted back through gritted teeth, pulling herself up to her knees. She grabbed the iron stake from her waist and held it in front of her. "The bastard just scratched me."

The wendigo stood before them, pale skin, a tall and thin frame, with sunken eyelids that showed how far the human had fallen to become this creature that preyed on human flesh.

Another growl sounded and the creature rushed forward, narrowly missing Kid, who shot one of his flares at it.

The beast snarled, snaking out one of it's long arms towards the girl who was still trying to stand shakily.

Kid rushed in front of her, firing his second flare straight into the wendigo's chest, the fire spreading across it's pale skin.

There was a hiss and a crackle and the creature stopped and began to scream in agony. It then began to walk toward them slowly, pain slowing it's usually fast movements. The creature's bones almost protruded against it skin, in obvious torment from the heat.

Maka leapt forward, her left hand across her shoulder and her right hand held outward with the iron stake. She kicked the wendigo, sending it sprawling backward, before shoving the stake into it's heart.

Another yowl and the creature began to dissolve into smoke as the skin hissed sickenly.

After a moment, all was quiet.

Maka exhaled deeply and sank into the ground, her hand clutching the soaking fabric against her chest, the tip of her blonde pigtail soaked in blood.

Her partner fell to the ground next to her, checking the wounds and trying to stay calm. "We need to get you to a hospital, this doesn't look good."

He reached out his hand as he stood up, gesturing for her to take it with her good arm. She did so, standing up shakily as he put her arm over his shoulder so he could support her weight.

The girl shivered in the cold air. The claw marks had cut through her coat, leaving the skin exposed to the open air.

She could feel her vision become a little blurry while blood pounded in her head. She was lucky to have survived the attack, and she knew that. Wendigo's were rare, and that's why they had been sent on this mission together.

The cannibalistic creatures were once humans, that when under duress due to famine or other reasons, ate others of their species. In some cultures, it is believed that eating the flesh of another human will give you special powers.

In a way, it was true. Wendigo's are incredibly strong; they can imitate the calls of human and they possessed a surreal amount of strength and speed, powered by bloodlust. They were found most commonly in Canada and a few of the northern states in the United States, which is why the hunters found themselves in the backwoods of Ontario at the end of winter.

They had been training their whole lives for missions like these, following the trails of beasts, demons, and spirits, that attacked humans.

Kid Death and Maka Albarn worked within a small network of other hunters, hunting and destroying the abnormal.

As they made the trek back to the village where they were staying, Maka felt exhaustion come over her and she nearly stumbled a few times. She knew there was a blood trail behind her, but she didn't care. They would tell the locals they had escaped a moose attack or something of the like.

They couldn't tell people what they really did.

For starters, most people wouldn't believe them.

It's hard to believe things that aren't easy to explain, things that aren't taught in secondary education.

It's even harder to believe something you don't want to be true.

Living with the knowledge they had could weigh a person down and make it hard to see the good in the world. Not only that, but it would cause widespread panic and fear.

And second of all, it would be selfish to weigh down other people. This was a hunter's burden to bear, not something every schoolteacher should worry about.

Days like this were why hunters even existed.

"We're almost there, Maka, don't worry," Kid said as he saw the tops of houses in the distance. Little stacks of smoke came from some of the chimneys at the edge of the town, but that wasn't where they were headed.

At the center of the town was a hospital. It was small, but it would be able to serve their immediate needs, and since it looked like the Wendigo missed any vital organs, all she would need were stitches, some disinfectant, and a few bandages so her wound could heal. And probably some rest too.

Kid looked at her flushed face in worry. Maka's breathing had been irregular and she had been wheezing for the last twenty minutes and he could feel her tiring out. "We're so close, Maka, don't worry, everything is going to be fine," he said comfortingly, shouldering her weight again.

Her emerald eyes were dull but she nodded slightly as she plodded along. She could feel a pang on her shoulder, but the cold was beginning to number her body.

"Can we please take a break?" she wheezed out after she stumbled again.

Kid shook his head no. "We have to keep moving, Maka, you'll freeze out here, or bleed out," he warned, dragging her across the snow.

Stubbornly, the girl sat down, a pout on her weary features. "I can't go any further yet, I need to rest."

The boy looked over her for a minute before his expression changed. As much as he wanted to let her rest, he knew that would kill her.

Instead, he picked her up, throwing her small body over his shoulder, much to her protest. Even in her exhausted state, she still managed to mumble a few profanities at the situation.

Kid smirked, one arm wrapped around her legs to hold her in place while he trudged through the village to the hospital.

What an entrance the pair made as they stepped across the clean mats on the other side of the automatic doors.

Kid, carrying a pouting nineteen year old girl over his shoulder that was bleeding profusely and looked ready to fall over at any moment. The dark haired boy had blood all over the front and back of his coat and his usually meticulously combed hair was disheveled. They were both flushed from the cold and weary to the bone, but they were alive.

"I need some help," he said calmly as two nurses rushed over to take Maka from him, but he held on firmly. "I'm staying with her," he said dangerously.

The nurses exchanged glances and then nodded, while a third nurse rushed a bed over to them.

Kid placed Maka gently on the bed as the nurses hooked up and IV and checked her vitals.

"Kid, it's going to be fine," Maka said weakly, reaching out a hand to him, which he took. He followed alongside when the nurses pushed her bed into an examination room, hooking her up to a morphine drip in the process.

"She's going to be out for awhile, with the pain and all," one of the nurses warned as the girl's eyes began to close from exhaustion. They had disinfected the wound and cleaned it quickly, giving them time to stitch up the deepest parts and bandage the more shallow areas.

The blonde girl lay curled up on her uninjured side, drips hooked up to her arm to administer pain medication. There was a thin sheen of sweat on her forehead and she shivered occasionally under the thick white hospital blanket, but her heartbeat was steady.

"You can stay if you want, but I'm going to get some anti-bacterial for her to take when she wakes up," the kind nurse said. She had rosy cheeks and dark hair, with a soft smile that comforted her patients. "I'll send the doctor to check on her when he can," she said as she left the room.

"Thank you," Kid called after her as he sank into one of the seats by his partner's bedside. There was no way he was going to leave her like this, so he might as well make himself comfortable.

They had changed her out of her hunting attire, leaving the leather jacket and red skirt discarded on the counter, folded next to the shredded white sweater and her muddy boots. The tights were balled up in the sink, dirt and leaves caught in the fabric.

The boy fished out the phone from his pocket, flipping through his contacts quickly. He pressed call when he found the one he was looking for, leaning back into his chair while he placed the call.

It rang a few times before the line was picked up.

"Hello?"

"Hey Soul, listen - "

"What did you do?"

Kid hung his head slightly, knowing that his friend could hear the pain in his voice. "We're going to be back late, Maka got hurt."

"You let her get hurt? Are you kidding me?" Soul shouted back.

Golden eyes hardened and Kid struggled to control himself. "What was I supposed to do, Soul? Tell her she couldn't come? This is her job and she signed up for this kind of shit."

"You're her partner, you're supposed to protect her," came Soul's dangerously calm reply.

Kid exhaled, knowing that the injury of their small blonde partner would worry every member of the group.

To say that Maka was an important member of the group would be an understatement. Maka was beloved, adored, and borderline feared as a member of their team. She was knowledgable and a damn good fighter, with determination and wit to match. The blonde girl was also the smallest and youngest member, resulting in a fierce protectiveness from the other members.

"Just don't tell Black Star, or he'll try to kick my ass," Kid said, causing Soul to chuckle on the other end of the line.

"You got that right. So how's our girl doing?"

"We're in the hospital. The Wendigo caught her shoulder, but the nurses stitched her up, so she'll be fine, just some scarring."

"Make sure you don't look at it," Soul warned.

Kid's brow furrowed. "Why not?"

"It'll offset her symmetry," the other boy said simply.

While the dark haired hunter had outgrown the worst of his symmetry obsession, due in part to extreme medications and years of group and individual psychotherapy as well as cognitive therapy, Kid still deeply admired equality and precision and their hunting team teased him mercilessly for it.

"I doubt I'll ever see her scars, Soul, they'll be covered," Kid said with a bored expression.

"You're damn right you won't, or big brother Black Star will kick your ass," Soul responded with a snicker. "When do you think you guys will be home? And did you kill that bastard?"

"Yes, Maka drove an iron stake into it's heart and then I burnt it to a crisp. No way she'd let an injury stop her from doing her job. And probably in a few days, she just needs to rest up," Kid said.

"Alright, tell her to give me a call when she wakes up, Tsubaki is worried about why she hasn't checked in and you know how she gets," Soul said before hanging up.

With a flick of his finger Kid locked his phone, setting it down beside him.

A rustle of bedsheets called his attention to the once sleeping form across the hospital room.

"Was that Soul?" a bleary voice asked from beneath the thick white blanket that covered her shivering form.

Kid nodded. "Your pretty little boyfriend was worried about you," he teased, seeing the color rise in her cheeks.

"He is not," she snarled adamantly, "my boyfriend." Her emerald eyes glared at him and he knew that if she had a book she would have cracked the volume over his head.

"How are you feeling?" he asked evenly when she put her head back on the pillow.

"Tired," she answered. "Like I got attacked by a wendigo."

"Ha ha, very funny."

"I thought so."

 **A/N: Okay, so new story I guess. It's inspired by the show Supernatural, but with a nice soul eater twist! It's not going to follow the Supernatural storyline, but it's in a similar, if not the same, universe. I don't know what the pairings are going to be yet, I just want to see where the story goes first. Reviews are my inspiration to write (hint, hint) I intend for it to be discontinuous, where each chapter captures it's own events. It will be roughly sequential, but the order of events won't be to pertinent for the most part.**

 **-Wri**


	2. Chapter 2 - Scarecrow

There was a call.

He felt it in the depth of his bones, seeping into his soul.

There was no refusal; no way to avoid or pretend the call did not happen.

The bond was too strong.

He had no chance of breaking a connection so strong and so ancient. He had to obey. No matter how much it made his heart ache and his stomach set in pain, there was no way he could escape.

And so, he answered.

00000000

"Hey, Maka, have you read this article?"

The blonde hunter looked up from the book she had been reading, annoyance flashing across her face from his interruption. She shook her head before turning back to her reading.

"Makaaa," her partner whined when she turned back to her book. "Just look at the obits," he said, tossing the newspaper across the room towards her.

The hunter caught it easily from where she was lounging on the couch in their office.

While their team spent a lot of time in the field, they still had an office where they stored what they needed to hunt the supernatural, as well as a place to speak to clients.

Maka quickly glanced over the obituary listings in the newspaper. "So what's the big deal about it?" she asked. As far as she could see, there was nothing out of the ordinary how the people had died, and while there may have been a few more deaths than usual, it wasn't an alarming amount.

Soul didn't answer right away, but pulled a newspaper from the stack in front of him, tossing it to her as well. "The deaths," he said, pointing to the listing, "are exactly a decade apart. To the day," he said smugly.

The younger hunter raise an eyebrow. "So? Maybe it's just a coincidence," she said with a shrug of her shoulder.

"See that's what I thought at first too, until I decided to look it up. Every decade, for the last seventy years, there's been a male and female disappearance in that county. On the _exact same day,"_ he pronounced. "Something's up, and we need to go check it out."

"What do you mean by, "check it out"?" she asked, pulling her phone from her pocket to check their schedule for the week.

Soul cocked his head, a lazy grin on his face. "I mean, we'll go down and ask some questions, see what's going on."

"And when are we going?"

"Tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?"

"Isn't tomorrow the day another couple should disappear, according to the pattern," she challenged. Maka placed her hands behind her back, strolling over to her partner who grinned sheepishly.

". . .Maybe."

The hunter looked at her partner thoughtfully for a moment before a bright smile spread across her face, her green eyes shining. "Well then what are we waiting for?" she shouted as she bounded for the door. "We have packing to do, Soul!"

The white-haired youth smiled as he followed his best friend and partner out the door, amazed at her endless energy.

Eight hours later, they found their plane landing in Columbus, Ohio, just thirty miles west of their town of interest. Cobalt, Ohio, population 5,612. A small town that had miraculously survived where most had failed.

After renting a black mustang from the airport, they headed over to Cobalt, noting the deserted stretch of road along the way.

The highway that ran between Columbus and Cobalt was narrow with one lane on either side, trees lining either side. Maka felt a chill go up her spine as she eyed the "scenic" view as they pulled into Cobalt.

Stopping at the local gas station, they decided to begin their enquiries, pulling a middle-aged man to the side to ask him a few simple questions.

The man wore a dark blue button-down shirt, rolled up at the cuffs, with jeans. He looked friendly enough, but a little worn down from years of a slow life, while a touch of stubble lingered along his jawline and cheeks.

"What can I do for you lovely folks?" he asked, shoving his hands into his pockets as the hunters walked up to the counter.

Maka and Soul had dressed as casually as possible in an effort to blend in with Cobalt.

They had settled on a cover story before their arrival, planning on telling everyone that they had just come into money from their family, and they intended on moving into the small town after their wedding in the following spring. They were looking for some real estate in the area with lots of open space for their dogs.

The blonde hunter didn't even flinch when her white-haired partner slid his arm around her waist in a familiar gesture. They had both gotten so used to playing the act of "couple in love," (because it made such a good cover story) that the method had spread to the other hunters as well.

"It's nice to meet you," Maka said cheerfully, reaching her hand for the man to shake. He shook it firmly, making the hunter grimace. "We're looking at moving into Cobalt, and we were wondering about the real estate in the area. We wanted to get out of Columbus, but still be close enough to visit our friends."

The man nodded, placing a hand on his jaw. "The name's Charlie. My wife and I run this little station. Now I don't know too much about the real estate, but I think Joe, the man who runs the diner, might have an idea. Why don't you two head on over there and have yourselves some pie and ask him about the houses," Charlie suggested, sliding his hands into his pockets.

Soul flashed him a shark-toothed grin. "Well we'd be much obliged, thank you."

Grabbing Maka by the hand, they quickly exited the station and headed towards the local diner. The could see the red and green sign advertising it from the front of the station.

"So what are you thinking, Soul?" Maka asked under her breath as they walked at a brisk pace.

"He seemed friendly enough, but he passed us off pretty quick," Soul mused, his grip tightening on his partner's hand.

Maka muttered her agreement at the statement as she pulled open the door to the diner, allowing the warm air to wash over her with the smell of freshly baked apple pie. "So do you think we should call Kid and tell him what's happening?" she asked.

The two quickly found themselves carefully perusing through menus that were filled with water stains, deciding on what to order.

Soul ran a hand through his hair as he looked at the appetizers. "Yeah, you should probably just send him a notice as to where we are so he doesn't set us up with a case while we're out here. Did you send that message to Stein?"

Maka nodded, closing her menu as a large man in a white t-shirt approached them.

"The name's Joe. Can I get you some coffee to start with?" the server asked quickly as he stopped at their table.

"Yes, thank you," Soul replied. "And some apple pie would be nice too," he drawled, closing his menu and putting it on top of Maka's as he handed it to Joe.

Joe nodded as he headed towards the kitchen to fetch the orders for them.

A few minutes later he returned, placing two steaming mugs of black coffee on the table for the pair. Maka smiled as she gripped the warm cup, sliding her fingers around it comfortably.

"So what brings the two of you to Cobalt?" Joe asked as he placed the plates in front of them.

Soul was the first to look up from the mouth-watering display of pie. "We're getting married in the spring, and we're looking to move somewhere outside of Columbus so we can have more space for our dogs."

"But we still want to be close enough to visit, don't we honey?" Maka asked, reaching her hand across the table towards her partner who gripped it tightly.

"We're from Columbus, so all our friends live there, but we figured it would be nice to get a ways away."

Joe nodded at the statement. "I can certainly understand that. So are you two out for the day to look at the local real estate?"

The blonde shook her head vigorously, her cheerful pigtails brushing against her cheeks at the motion. "No, we booked the hotel for the week. We figured it might take a few days of searching to find what we're here for."

The older man scratched his neck while he listened. "If you want to look at some property, I know of a few places that are for sale right now. Do you want directions?"

Maka smiled as she took another bite of her pie, carefully swallowing before speaking. "That would be very helpful, thank you."

00000000

"Hmmm," Maka muttered as she locked the screen on her phone as she sprawled across the bed in their hotel.

Soul looked over his shoulder at her from where he was sitting at the table, crouched over some books. "What is it?"

"Kid hasn't answered my calls," she answered in a puzzled tone.

"Well maybe he's busy," Soul said with a shrug of his shoulders as his attention turned back towards the reference material.

"Soul," Maka whined, "Kid _always_ answers my calls. He can't _not._ You know how weird he is when the little red notification comes up on voicemail and missed calls."

The white-haired hunter shrugged again, ignoring the whines of his partner.

"Have you found anything in those books yet?"

"No."

"Well you know what that means," she answered in a sing-song voice, pulling herself up on her knees. "It means we need to go to the library."

A muttered curse escaped from the mouth of the hunter as he stood up from his chair. "The only thing I've been able to figure out is that it's probably some kind of sacrifice."

As Maka slid off the bed she sent her partner a look. "Why do you think it's a sacrifice?" she asked as she put her arms through her trench coat. It wasn't her signature black leather one because she was supposed to be _blending it,_ but dang it got cold in Ohio.

Soul tied the knots on his shoes carefully while he spoke. "A male and female disappearing every decade on the same day. Sounds like a sacrifice to me," he snorted.

"Okay, so it's some sort of ancient pagan sacrifice. But now the question is, who is it to?"

An hour later they were poring over texts in the library, finally giving in and asking the librarian for help, despite Soul's reluctance.

"So the people that have settled here in Cobalt, they're mostly descendants of immigrants, aren't they?" Maka asked pleasantly.

"Why, yes, Ms. Albarn," the librarian asked in surprise, pushing his glasses up further on his nose. "Scandinavians, actually."

Maka leaned forward in her seat, sliding her elbows on the table gracefully. "So, it's possible that a lot of their religion, their heritage, was brought over with them."

The librarian shifted uncomfortably where he sat across from her. "Well I suppose that's a possibility, but I don't believe anyone worships the pagan gods anymore, even in the countries where they originated," he reasoned.

Meanwhile, Soul's eyes had caught sight of an interesting piece of information.

"The vanir?" he asked quizzically, his eyebrows raised towards the librarian as he slid the book across the table to him.

As the older man looked down at the page his eyes widened in surprise. "Well, yes. They were gods that were raised in effigies for the prosperity of settlements. Many were sacrificed to annually to appease them," he answered before turning his attention back to Maka. "Now why do you need to know about this?"

Maka tried her best to smile sheepishly. "I have a bit of a passion for ancient mythology, and I find it hard to locate good sources on Norse Mythology," she answered while tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "I hope we haven't inconvenienced you in any way."

"No, not at all Ms. Albarn. But if you will excuse me, I have some new arrivals to sort," the librarian offered quickly as he stood up from his chair and headed back to his desk.

Soul leaned back in his chair, throwing his hands behind his neck. "The book says they're bound to trees. So we would just have to torch the thing to kill the spirit."

Maka nodded, but her heart sank. "How are we supposed to know which one it's bound to though?" she asked.

"Well we should probably take a look around that orchard by the edge of town, you know, the one we passed on our way over?" he planned as he held open the door for her.

As she passed through the arch, Maka felt a sharp pain on the back of her head before everything went dark.

00000000

When Maka awoke, she found that her hands were bound behind her back and she couldn't see more than a few feet in front of her. Her head was pounding and her vision swam as she took a deep breath, feeling a sting in her ribs.

"Maka?"

She could hear her partner rasping just a few feet away from her.

"I'm awake, Soul," she answered. "Any idea where we are?"

"My guess? About to get sacrificed to that Vanir thing," he drawled from his position next to her. "Are you bound up too?"

Maka bit her lip. "Yeah, and the rope's so tight I don't think I can slip out of it," she answered.

There was a moment of quiet, each unable to voice their fears.

Of course, Maka always hated silences.

"Soul," she mumbled, "I don't know how we're going to get out of this one."

"Hey," Soul answered, scooting closer to her, "We've been through worse. Remember that time you and Kid took out a Wendigo? We can do this," he answered, trying to comfort her while he heard her sniffling slow.

"You're right," she choked out. "So what's our plan?"

"Don't know yet."

"You don't have a plan, do you?"

"I'm working on it."

Suddenly, a bright line shone above them through the slats between the wooden cellar door. As it was swung open, they felt hands roughly pull them to their feet.

"So you're going to sacrifice us to that thing, aren't you?" Soul sneered as they tugged on his rope. "All for the sake of your town."

"We do it for the greater good. Sacrifices of the few must be made for the good of many," said a voice that the hunters recognized as belonging to Joe from the diner. His wife, a smaller woman with silver blonde hair stood next to him as she pulled on Maka's rope from the other side.

As Maka's eyes adjusted to the light, she could also make out the owner of the gas station and the librarian, all holding lanterns to guide them through the woods.

"That's sickening," Maka growled as she was tugged forward.

The pair was quickly led to a tree where they were tied around it, the ropes bound tightly.

"Please understand," pleaded the woman. "We have to protect our town from dying, and this is the only way," she answered as she slowly backed away from the tree with the rest of the group.

Silence reigned again as the hunters contemplated how to get out of the predicament. They had no weapons, no plans, and they were running out of time.

"Soul, can you see that scarecrow over there?" she asked. "I think that's the Vanir. If it moves off of the post, you have to tell me."

"Maka, there's not anything on that pole. It's empty."

The hunter felt her blood run cold.

"Are you sure?" she whispered, straining against her bonds.

Then, they heard it.

It was a deep, guttural sound, followed by a dragging noise. It was far away, but they knew what it was.

"Soul, are you still there?" she called out.

"Yeah I'm here, Maka."

"Can you see it?"

"Not yet, but I bet I will soon enough."

There was a figure approaching, one that Maka couldn't quite make out in the moonlight. As it came closer, Maka held her breath, counting the seconds.

"Maka? Soul? Are you okay?"

As the ropes were being cut from around them, the close proximity allowed Maka to identify the vague shape.

It was Kid.

As soon as the ropes were cut, he pulled her to her feet. "Are you okay?" he asked, trying to look over her for injury.

The blonde hunter nodded quickly as she reached for Soul and hauled him up. "We're fine. Have you seen the scarecrow?"

Kid shook his head. "Not yet, but I got your last message. I'm so glad I got here in time. Once I knew where you were going, I had to figure out what was happening."

Maka smiled gratefully at her friend. "Thank you for coming to save us, but for now, let's get the hell out of here and find that tree."

Soul shook his head as he stepped away from the tree they had just been bound to. "Let's do that tomorrow. For now, let's get out of here before it finds us."

The other two hunters nodded in agreement before taking off into the night, moonlight being the only thing to guide them.

They couldn't have gone more than a few hundred yards before they heard the click of a shotgun, causing them to all stop dead in their tracks.

A light shone on them and the group looked around, finding the faces of the townspeople once again.

"Please, just let yourselves be taken. For the good of the town," the woman begged while her husband aimed his gun decisively.

Kid snarled at the couple. "You think you can stop the inevitable by using some pagan god?"

"Well we're certainly going to try," Joe retorted. "There isn't another way. The gods must be appeased," he reasoned as he fixed the barrel of his gun on Kid.

They didn't hear it coming until it was upon them.

The woman screamed when she saw the hook go through her husband's chest, blood spilling out of his mouth. The scarecrow, it's leathery face jeering at them, used it's other arm to grab the woman, dragging her off as she screamed hysterically, condemned to the fate she tried to force upon others.

As the bodies were dragged off by the scarecrow, the other townspeople scattered in an effort of self-preservation, leaving the hunters alone in the woods.

Maka stared at the gap the scarecrow had gone through, urging her bod to move forward.

It wasn't until Kid put his arm around her shoulders, silently urging her to run, that her body reacted. The hunters raced off into the night, never looking back in the trees.

The next morning, they found the large apple tree, the one that had been brought over in the 17th century and planted in the ground. The one the Vanir was bound to.

They poured gasoline over it before striking a match and watching it burn to ashes until there wasn't a trace left.

 **A/N: Okay so it's been almost three months since I posted anything and wow I am so sorry. I hope this chapter is just the beginning of the work that I do on my week off to try and make it up to you guys.**

 **-Wri**


End file.
